Trump doubles down on criticism of Hispanic judge even after uproar from both parties

Donald
Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Sacramento, California, U.S.
June 1, 2016.REUTERS/Lucy
Nicholson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidate
Donald Trump on Monday rejected a barrage of criticism from his
own party over his allegations of bias against a Hispanic judge,
insisting his concerns were valid.

"All I want to do is figure out why I'm being treated unfairly by
a judge. And a lot of people agree with it," Trump said on Fox
News.

Trump has been on the defensive since his comments last week
about Mexican-American U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is
overseeing fraud lawsuits against Trump University, the New York
businessman's defunct real estate school.

He has also been castigated by Democrats, including the party's
likely presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

"I don't know what else you could call these attacks other than
racist, other than prejudiced, other than bigoted," Clinton said
in an interview with MSNBC on Monday. "It's just plain wrong, and
certainly wrong coming from someone who is vying to become
President of the United States."

Trump told campaign supporters in a conference call they should
stand by him in his attacks on the judge, Bloomberg Politics
reported. It said during the call Trump distanced himself from a
memo his campaign sent supporters on Sunday that urged them to
avoid the issue.

U.S.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures during a
news conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New
YorkThomson
Reuters

Two Trump supporters, Tana Goertz and Scottie Nell Hughes, told
CNN that former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer had said on the call
that she wanted the campaign to go on the offense against
expected Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Goertz said Trump told his suppporters not to be afraid to "call
out the media" when TV reporters suggest that Trump is racist.

Trump has suggested that Curiel's heritage is influencing the
judge's opinion about the case because of Trump's campaign
rhetoric about illegal immigration. Trump, the presumptive
Republican nominee for the Nov. 8 presidential election, has
pledged to seal the U.S.-Mexico border with a wall, and has said
Mexico is sending rapists and drug dealers to the United States.

Former Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio, a U.S.
senator from Florida, joined the chorus of criticism. In an
interview with Orlando's WFTV, Rubio called Trump's comments
wrong and said he had to stop.

"I ran for president and I warned this was going to happen,"
Rubio said.

Marco
Rubio.AP Photo/Andrew
Harnik

Trump has regularly stirred up controversy on the campaign trail
and has frequently dismayed Republican establishment leaders. His
view of an ethnically biased judiciary has drawn a fresh wave of
criticism, including concern in his own party.

On Sunday he was asked if - by the same token - he believed a
Muslim judge would be biased against him based on Trump's call
for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country. "It's
possible. Yes," Trump said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Republican leaders including House of Representatives Speaker
Paul Ryan and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell have
distanced themselves from Trump's comments, saying they are
worried the tone of his presidential campaign could enrage
Latinos, who are a growing U.S. voting bloc.

'BIG TROUBLE'

"If this doesn't change we're in for big trouble," Senator Jeff
Flake, an Arizona Republican, said on MSNBC on Monday. "I hope to
be able to support the nominee. I certainly can't now," said
Flake, whose state has a large percentage of Hispanics.

A former rival for the Republican presidential nomination, Ohio
Governor John Kasich, called on Trump to apologize to Curiel, who
was born in Indiana to Mexican immigrant parents.

"Attacking judges based on their race (and/or) religion is
another tactic that divides our country," Kasich wrote on
Twitter. "More importantly, it is flat out wrong."

It was unclear what, if any, effect the latest furor would have
on Trump's unorthodox candidacy. States with significant Hispanic
populations including California, New Mexico and New Jersey hold
nominating contests on Tuesday.

Trump fought back against his Republican critics on Monday, with
especially sharp words for Newt Gingrich, a former House speaker.

Gingrich, mentioned as a possible running mate to Trump, on
Sunday called Trump's comments inexcusable.

"I was surprised at Newt," Trump told the "Fox & Friends"
program. "I thought it was inappropriate what he said."